This Just In: Texas Education Commissioner Orders Sam Houston High School Closed

The much beleaguered Sam Houston High was ordered shut down by the Texas Commissioner of Education because it failed to make enough academic progress, the Houston Independent School District’s press office is announcing this afternoon.

However, HISD Superintendent Abe Saavedra has an alternate plan for the school, or as the press release says: “he is working with the commissioner’s office and the school board on ideas to repurpose the school with exciting new programs for students beginning in August.”

Sam Houston’s test scores got better but there wasn’t enough improvement in math to get an academically acceptable rating from the state. This is the sixth straight year it has been rated unacceptable. Fifty percent of its students passed in science and math. Students did better in reading and social studies where the passage rate was 81 percent and 83 percent respectively.

It’s not just bad news for the school, though. Commissioner Robert Scott says 75 percent of the teachers will have to leave, although the district says they will have a chance to be hired elsewhere in the district.

The proposed new school at Sam Houston would emphasize math, science and technology. Saavedra will present his proposal to the school board for approval June 12 and submit it to Commissioner Scott on June 13 for review and approval.

Saavedra said he will ask the school board to approve special bonuses for new teachers who agree to take on the assignments at the new school.

A new principal already has been appointed. Jane Crump, the principal of Stevenson Middle School, was named last month to lead the Sam Houston campus next year. – Margaret Downing